Harper's Weekly was
an illustrated newspaper published during the Civil War. The paper was
distributed across the country, and was read by millions of Americans.
These newspapers contained incredible illustrations and reports of the
war.

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ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.

THE Catholic Archbishop of New
York, the Rev. JOHN HUGHES, died on Sunday evening, January 3, aged about 65
years. Few men of his day exercised so wide an influence, social, moral, and
political, and few men have exercised it, upon the whole, so honestly and
wisely. He was born in Ireland in 1798, the son of a respectable farmer. He came
to America in 1817, and soon after became a student at the Catholic College at
Emmetsburg,
Maryland. In 1825 he received ordination, and
was appointed to the charge of a church in Philadelphia, and became recognized
as a man of mark in his Church. In 1838 he was appointed coadjutor to the
venerable Bishop Dubois of New York, who was fast sinking under age and
infirmity. A fortnight had hardly passed before Bishop Dubois was struck down by
paralysis, and the oversight of the Diocese fell upon Mr. Hughes, who four years
later, upon the death of his superior, became Bishop of New York. In this
position he had full scope for the exercise of his great administrative powers.
To the general public he was best known by the various controversies in which he
was at several times engaged, prominent among which were those with Dr. John
Breckenridge, that upon the Public School Question, that with his
fellow-countryman,
Dr. Nicholas Murray (Kirwan), and one with the
Hon. Erastus Brooks. But his true work was in the organization of the affairs of
his diocese, and the establishment of its educational and religious concerns
upon a firm basis. It would require a volume to detail his labors. It is
sufficient to say that he gradually gathered into his own strong hands the
entire control of the Catholic schools and churches of his Diocese. The amount
of church property nominally vested in him has been stated at fully five
millions of dollars. He found his Diocese weak and disjointed; he left it strong
and consolidated. His position gave him great political influence; this he
rarely used except when he thought the interests of the Church were in question,
and then always with telling effect. In 1850 the Diocese of New York was divided
by the erection of the Sees of Albany and Buffalo, while that of New York was
raised to the dignity of an Archbishopric. After the breaking out of the
insurrection, Archbishop Hughes, at the desire of our Government, went to Europe
on a mission to aid the Union cause; for his exertions in this mission he
received the official thanks of the authorities of the City of New York. Within
a few months his health began to give way, and his public appearances became
more rare. His last notable effort was his

speech to the Catholics of New
York, at the time of the riots of last July. This speech was sharply and, we
think, justly criticised. Its intent was good; but we thought at the time, and
must think still, that it contained some highly objectionable features. We
apprehend that the mental, as well as the physical, strength of the Archbishop
was impaired when he made this speech, which we are confident was heard or read
with regret by the best and wisest of his friends. Apart from this speech,
conceived and delivered when the venerable prelate was not his old self, we
think it would be difficult to point to a single important act in his long
administration that was not wise and politic, and which, viewed from his own
standpoint, was not right and honorable. He died as he had lived, a true man,
and a sincere Christian. There will probably be a sharp contest, open or
concealed, as to who shall succeed to the post left vacant by his death. It will
be well for the Church and the country if the second Archbishop of New York be,
all in all, a worthy successor of John Hughes.

THE
"RAPPAHANNOCK."

THERE are some curious
circumstances connected with the screw steamer Rappahannock, alias the Scylla,
of London, alias her Majesty's steam-sloop Victor. The English Admiralty, a
short time ago, disposed of her Majesty's screw gun-vessel Victor, and, on being
sold, she was permitted to undergo some repairs under the superintendence of the
dock-yard officials. It was stated that she was intended for the China trade,
and she was ostensibly fitted with that view, while her name was changed to the
"Scylla, of London." Several suspicious circumstances, however, occurred, and
the dock-yard officials made a report to the Admiralty. The result was the
receipt of an order at Sheerness directing her to be stopped. The order,
however, arrived a few hours too late. Those in charge of the vessel evidently
suspected the intentions of the Government, and had her taken out of the harbor.
She immediately afterward hoisted the
Confederate flag, and she now sails under the
name of the Rappahannock. On leaving the Nore the Rappahannock sailed direct for
Calais Harbor, in France, which she entered as a Confederate privateer. The
Customs authorities at Calais, in answer to a question, have received
instructions from Paris to allow the Rappahannock to leave whenever her captain
pleases. It is said that the English Admiralty have also sold the war steamers
Amphion, Cyclops, and Phoenix to "private purchasers."

THE LATE MOST REVEREND JOHN HUGHES, D.D.,
ARCHBISHOP OF NEW YORK.—[PHOTOGRAPHED BY BRADY.]

THE REBEL SCREW STEAMER "RAPPAHANNOCK", LYING AT
CALAIS, FRANCE.

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